LOST AND FOUND

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
Exodus 32:7-11,13-14; 1Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32
Sunday Scripture Reflections


Losing and finding are common experiences of our daily life. And we live in the paradox of losing in order to lose and lose in order to find. Growth, change and becoming are measured in terms of our ability to lose and gain. The Gospel for our reflection today has three parables depicting the pain of losing and the joy of finding.

Salvation History—A History of Losing and Finding:

The Bible is the story of human beings’ pain of losing God, and God’s joy of finding us. It is also a story of humanity losing sight of its goal, losing and breaking relationships and finding each other in repentance and love.

Adam and Eve:
The very first story of the Bible is about God’s joy of accomplishing creation and His pain of losing the humankind. God brought forth Adam and Eve, the reflection of His very heart, showed them the whole creation, blessed them with the greatest blessings and set them in the Garden of Eden to be free, happy and God-like. The very next moment we find man being lost, hiding and seeking the cover of darkness. God comes looking for him, and calls him: “Adam, where are you?” Adam says, he is hiding, because he is afraid, he is naked, he is miserable. And he raises his accusing finger against his wife, saying, it is because of her, and she in turn accuses the serpent. In this process of finding fault and pointing figure at each other, they found themselves lost first to God, second to each other and third to the entire creation. But God does not want man to be lost. He calls his name, brings him before His light and makes shows Him a way to return: repent.

Cain and Abel:
We find God coming again, looking for the sons of Adam. He calls out Cain who murdered his brother, and asks him, “where is your brother?” Cain retorts, “Am I the keeper of my brother?” Cain tried to hide his sin, his anger, his bitterness, and himself from God. Yet, God will let him realize, he cannot run away from His sight, that he cannot deny his responsibility for his brother.

Israel:
Yahweh kept accompanying His people, He chose them and made a covenant with them that He will be their God and they will be His people, that He will be loyal to them, true to His promise and faithful to His covenant. But His people turned stiff-necked, stubborn, and unfaithful. They ran away from their promise, abandoned their faith and went after false Gods. This is the background of the first reading, where, God seems to have run short of His patience for a people who went on playing hide and seek. But, no matter how his people will run away from Him, He runs after them with the cords of compassion and love.

Jesus—the seeker:
God’s desire and efforts to find His children back home culminated in His becoming man, Emmanuel, His being with us that we may never again keep hiding from His presence. He brought us the lost-heaven, the lost grace and the lost way. Now we only need to look at Him, the crucified, that we may find life, light, and love. In so many ways, in so many words He reminded us that God delights in us in our finding Him, and God rejoices in getting us back home.

The Gospel passage today presents three parables of Jesus depicting the pain of losing and the joy of finding. These parables are on the one hand about the loss of grace and the joy of repentance. On the other hand, these are about you and me getting lost to ourselves and to each other. It is about loss of self-confidence, self-worth, and dignity as well as loss of relationships, loss of trust and loss of faith in each other. It is also about finding courage to face reality, accept truth about the self, taking steps to reach out to the broken/lost relationships, restoring the loss of dignity and trust.

The Three Kinds of Losing and Finding:

The three parables of Luke, chapter 15 are about three types of losing and finding that we experience in our daily life. They are: 1) the loss by carelessness, 2) loss by impulses/instincts, and 3) loss by defection.

Losing by Carelessness: The Lost Coin

The first parable is about a woman who lost one of her coins which she treasured so much. A coin cannot get lost by itself. It is the woman who either misplaced or dropped the coin somewhere by her carelessness, forgetfulness, oversight, or taken-for granted attitude. Now that she lost it she feels the pain, takes responsibility for the loss and acts on it, with a diligent search. How many relationships have I broken because of my carelessness? How many opportunities for improvement have slipped away because of my carelessness and taken for granted attitude? How many people have I hurt, bruised, and they in turn have walked away from my life because of my insensitivity, forgetfulness and oversight? How often have I neglected the presence of God, the blessing of love, security, care and comfort that so many people so selflessly give me? No matter what, if I have lost relationships, friendship, love and grace, the fact is I cannot afford to put the blame on the other person. I need to own responsibility for the loss. Like the woman who lost the coin, I need to light the lamp of hope and diligently seek what is lost. Seek, and you shall find is the promise of the Lord. Do not give up until you find. Once you find, celebrate your joy. Indeed, relationship is all about celebration. Life is all about the search. The search is all about hope, and hope is all about the joy of finding.

Losing by Impulses/Instincts: The Lost Sheep

A sheep is primarily an animal, no matter how pretty, adorable and lovable it may be. As an animal it lives by impulses and instincts. An impulsive life can expose it to dangers. A sheep is short sighted. It can lose sight of the way and get trapped in the wilderness. Sometimes we can be led by impulses and instincts rather than reason and faith. A person who lives by instincts and impulses loses sight of His purpose and direction in life. Impulsive behaviors can cause us relationships, and damage reputation. Sometimes we lose control of our senses, feelings, and instincts. A short tempered man, might easily get angry with others. He may not be aware of the rising of his pitch, the change of his tone, the reddening of his face and the resultant loss of patience and trust people have in him. How many people have broken away from me because of my wild and instinctive behavior! How many times have I lost my dignity and self-worth on account of my impulsiveness? Now, in Jesus, the good shepherd I have hope and comfort. No matter how people might look at me, the Lord will carry me in His hands, shoulder me to home, and rejoice for me, if only I give him the privilege of finding myself, listening to His call and submitting myself to His gentle love.

Losing by Defection: The Lost Son

The younger son who defected from his father willfully cut off his relationship with his home. He did not want to be called a son. He knew what he was doing. He knew the implications and consequences of breaking off with his father. With knowledge and understanding he took away whatever belonged to him and went away. He lost his sonship hoping that he will find better relationships outside. He risked the comfort of his home as he found more comfortable and pleasure filled homes outside his home. His breaking away, however did not mean that his father lost him. No matter what happened, nothing changed the love of his father for him. This is why the father would patiently, hopefully wait for his son to return him home and celebrate his homecoming with all his resources. He knew that at times it is better to let go that you may find the worth of life and love. For the son, it was a painful process of realizing, remembering, repenting and returning which resulted in great rejoicing. Since it was a willful act of defection, the father was helpless unless the son himself will come out from the hiding. Most experiences of loss in my life are results of my own willful acts. In this information society, I am well fed with sufficient information and bombarded with spiritual, emotional and social formation programs, that I make my choices of defection, breaking off, and abandoning relationships knowing too well the consequences and the pain of loss. This is where the entire world seems to be helpless, unless and until I humbly accept my mistakes and return home to the broken promises and damaged relationships. I need to remember my promises, repent over my mistakes from my heart, and return to the source of grace and to the people whom I hurt. Then I will experience the joy of finding what I lost. On the part of the offended, I need to be open minded, patient, compassionate and forgiving. You might let the other party hide and get lost, yet do not let yourself be losing hope. If your offender comes back make it a reason for celebration, not of nagging.

Here are the five Rs of losing and finding: Remembering, Repenting, Returning, Reinstating and Rejoicing!